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Poe develops the central idea of obsession in “The Tell-Tale Heart” through his narrator who is disturbed by the old man’s eye. Poe also uses repetition to show the narrator’s preoccupation with the old man’s eye. Poe uses the story’s beginning to reveal the narrator’s obsessive personality. The narrator discusses how the old man’s eye is driving him to murder. “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture.” From there, Poe further uses the narrator’s point of view to develop the narrator’s obsession, as the narrator strategically plots the murder of the old man. For example, the narrator describes in detail the plan he executes every night for “seven long nights,” just to get a glimpse of the old man’s eye. The narrator even says that he is unable “to do the work” on one of those nights because he does not see the narrator’s “Evil Eye.” The narrator’s obsessive nature is further revealed by Poe’s use of repetition. For example, Poe uses repetition to show how slowly and cautiously the narrator is moving, just to get a glimpse of the old man’s eye. “I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down.” Additionally, Poe’s use of repetition reveals how fixated the narrator is on seeing the eye, so he can carry out the murder. “I resolved to open a little—a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it—you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily.”
• Poe develops the central idea of madness by creating an insane narrator to tell his story. Also, Poe uses punctuation to show how mad the narrator is. Poe chooses to begin his story with the narrator explaining himself after the murder has occurred. The narrator makes statements about his condition, saying he was and is “dreadfully nervous” but not insane. However, the narrator’s behavior contradicts his statement, as he exclaims at the reader, “Hearken!” and says he desires to kill the old man because of his eye. “Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees—very gradually—I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.” Poe uses the narrative point of view to introduce the reader to the narrator’s madness instead of just the story’s action. “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.” Additionally, Poe chooses to have the insane narrator tell the story so readers can have access to his internal thoughts, further developing the idea of madness. For example, the narrator thinks he is wise and sneaky, instead of insane, for his detailed murder plans. “Oh you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in!” These thoughts further reveal his madness. The narrator also admits he has his own terrors. “I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him,” showing his madness. Additionally, Poe uses punctuation to show how excited the narrator is, revealing his madness. For example, the narrator talks loudly and excitedly when he thinks he “hears” the dead man’s beating heart: “Oh God! What could I do? I foamed—I raved—I swore!” Poe uses exclamation points to show how crazy the narrator is when he believes he is hearing the dead man’s beating heart.
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